The Spectrum of Light
by pearlydewdrop
Summary: She always thought that seeing colours was just a metaphor. She thought that it was something everyone claimed because it was the only way true love could be described. That was until the hazel colour of his irises entered her gray world despite all science and logical reasoning. SOULMATES AU... We tried to hide our feelings but forgot our eyes speak.(REVISED SECOND CHAPTER POSTED)
1. Prologue: Hazel

**The Spectrum of Light**

 **Brown and Hazel** is a natural **color** that evokes a sense of **strength** and **reliability**. It is often seen as solid, much like the earth. It is a **color** often associated with resilience, **dependability** , security, and **safety**. **Brown and Hazel** can also create feelings of **loneliness** , **sadness** and **isolation**.

Ever since Dana Scully was a child she had always been told by her mother what it feels like when you see that special person for the first time.

She had been told that the world erupts into various shades of colours, spreading out across the room like the spectrum of light from a glass prism. They say that your world that had once only consisted of various boring forms and shades of black, white and gray would suddenly become colourful with mixtures of blue, red,green, orange, brown and more in all hues and textures imaginable. Her mother had told her that you would never see things in the same way again. A beautiful idea but surely a metaphorical one.

As a child and even as a teenager (despite the rebellious streak she had quickly adopted), Dana had unquestionably belived what her mother had told her and Melissa when they were little girls, tucked in bed and begging for a bedtime story from their mother while their father(who usually read Moby Dick to them) was away at sea. She had accepted it as a truth, one not only her mother and father spoke of but one seemingly agreed on by society itself. Dana had believed what others had said about this strange phenomenon that somehow made it possible to see in colour once your eyes fell on your soulmate.

Her faith in the colours began to waver after Daniel Waterson, her medical school professor entered her life. For two years Dana Scully was entirely sure she loved the man, sure that he was her soulmate despite the fact the world remained as colorless as before to her. It hadn't matter that he had already seen the colours and had already married the woman who shared the colours with him.

None of it mattered in the slightest to her because Dana Scully was sure that she loved him, was sure that he loved her and she was determined in her empty belief. But their love wouldn't last. It was too dull and unfulfilling. It was black,white and gray.

Time and experience changed her. Somehow along the way she had given up on the utopian ideology that the colours represented. The world was black and white and she couldn't see how one person could change all of that no matter how many people (both of her brothers now included by the year 1993) claimed it. She did accept their beliefs, she just didn't share them.

And even if it was true, Dana never thought it would be him of all people. She never thought it would be the promising young profiler who had abandoned his career to delve headfirst into the paranormal, the unknown and the alien.

Dana Scully never thought that it would be the man that every other agent at the academy called 'Spooky Mulder' who would change her outlook on the soulmates phenomenon, despite the prickle of interest she had felt in the pit of her stomach when she had heard her fellow agents talking animatedly about him at Quantico. At the time she had quelled down the feeling storing it away, chalking it down to ridiculousness. The antics of Fox Mulder had absolutely nothing to do with her.

She wasn't expecting him to come into her life nor was she expecting to come into his, but somehow she couldn't suppress an almost affectionate smirk when Chief Belvins had asked her did she know of Fox Mulder.

"Only by reputation", she replied quickly despite how her heart screamed otherwise.

Little did Dana Scully know that the first colour she would see would be the melting hazel of Fox Mulder's irises, a total contradiction to her beloved science.


	2. Red

**Chapter 2- Spectrum of Light: Red**

 ** _"Red Represents:_**  
 _ **Energy**_ _: it boosts our physical energy levels, increases our heart rate and blood pressure and prompts the release of_ _ **adrenalin**_ _._  
 _ **Action**_ _: it is fast moving and promotes a need for_ _ **action**_ _and movement._  
 _ **Desire**_ _: it relates to physical desire in all its forms-_ _ **sexual**_ _, appetite, cravings._  
 _ **Passion**_ _: it means a passionate belief in an issue or undertaking, including_ _ **passionate**_ _love or_ _ **passionate**_ _hate._ _ **Anger**_ _is negative passion."_

As their first case together progressed Scully began to not only associate Mulder with the alluring hazel that was his eyes but more with the vibrancy of the colour red.

As soon as she saw the piercing colour for the first time on one of the many posters littering the walls of the small and dark basement office she knew that it was him, burning and passionate in his own stubborn beliefs. He burned ardently crimson in complete contrast to the dark basement office in The Hoover Building that was his home away from home. A complete contrast but still one of the same.

Fox Mulder became red when he enthusiastically spoke of alien abductions as they left the hospital in Bellefleur on their way back to their rental vehicle. Mulder burned bright when she told him that he was crazy as he tried to convince her with his outlandish theories and make her see (if for only a moment) the world through his eyes, a world where no one could be trusted.

He flickered like Roman candles in the night as he challenged Scully's own faith in science, a faith as concrete and unmoving as his was in the paranormal. He challenged her almost playfully (because he already suspected her fierce dedication to logic from the moment her opened her personal file) but still red, still fiery, still passionate in his beliefs and bursting with energy, just as he was.

She knew almost immediately that Fox Mulder didn't trust her, that he knew perfectly well that she had been assigned to work with him to debunk his life's work.

Had he expected that the woman who would be his soulmate would be a person with such a different outlook on the world as himself?... Probably not.

Would he refuse to trust his soulmate because he feared that her agenda did not align with his?... Perhaps

But even so, in all honest; Scully wasn't sure if she trusted him either, wasn't sure if she trusted her eccentric partner who most of her old colleagues believed to be a total manic. Sure, he may be her soulmate but she did not truly know him or the state of mind he was in(even though her heart said otherwise and for some reason increased pulse rate in his presence).

The universe may have decreed Fox Mulder as her soulmate but Scully wasn't sure if she could take something as serious as that at face value anymore. The universe could be wrong(after all the workings of the world were often a cruel and sadistic thing that left your heart broken, scattered into a thousand pieces that would never again fit together they way they ought to). Could she really take the leap of faith for a man who may or may not feel as she did, a man who chased flying saucers and waved his fists to the heavens(or at least that's what Scully had been hearing around The Hoover Building for the last three years).

She had long sense lost her faith in such romantic ideals and wanted to make up her own mind on the man without the universe intervening or the opinions of her old colleagues clouding her judgement. (Already she could sense Fox Mulder had a good heart).

Scully deduced that Mulder's feelings on the matter must be somewhat similar to her own because even though his eyes lit up in amazement when he first saw her, Mulder did not dare to mention the fact that meeting her had made him finally see in colour. Was he just as afraid as she was at accepting the fact that they were both FBI partners and soulmates or had he simply dismissed the idea of them being meant to be more than work collegues totally. (The logical part of Scully's Brian told her that the latter may very well be the matter but when she looked into his sincere hazel eyes another scenario entirely was revealed).

For the first few days the colours became their unspoken truth. The truth that they both knew but didn't dare speak aloud to each other because even if they could learn to accept and trust one another, they were first and foremost FBI partners and would have to deny the yearnings of their heart, body and soul if it meant closing cases and keeping their jobs safe.

Having a soulmate wasn't usually a thing that people tended to hide(Both Mulder and Scully knew that). Most people celebrated when the found the special person who brought light and colour into their lives and let themselves fall for the other person immediately, the person who would mark a before and after in their lives.

Was Scully slowly coming to believe that there was truth behind the soulmates phenomenon?...This was likely the case.

That first night in Mulder's hotel room in Oregon was when and where Scully felt her original feelings on the phenomenon of soulmates begin to shift, the moment where she truly accepted the idea as being more than a fanciful tale.

After working together for the past few days it was getting harder and harder not to get closer to him, closer to the man her soul called out to, closer to the man whose soul she could hear calling for her.

Or was it just her imagination...She deemed it plausible that it was so.

She couldn't bring it up with him though, answering the call of his soul.

Scully knew that she had to remain professional with Fox Mulder and let the colours, fate, romance and the universe bedamned despite the fact that every new shade her eyes fell on brought him to mind.

Her career was important to her and already she knew that The X-Files were Mulder's life.

They had just returned from a long day of seeking answers in sludgy forests and gloomy graveyards in the pouring rain. Rain beat down on the roof of the motel like a tribal drum and the clouds outside seemed to be crackling with electricity.

After several hours of half answers and more questions, Mulder and Scully had emerged from their rental vehicle like wet rats, deciding to call it a day.

She was drawing her bath when she first noticed something out of the ordinary.

Scully was standing in the bathroom of her own motel room, examining three scarlet and round spots on her lower back. They were almost identical in size, shape and position to those found on the bodies of the victims of the Swenson case. She felt the panic sink like a ship into the marow of her bones and eat away at the pit of her stomach, the bitter taste of bile entering her throat. This was not happening!

'Surely they are just some sort of bug bite', her logical side tried to reason. 'There is no such thing as aliens or alien abductions. But the proof was there and then proof Scully had was the fact that all previous victims in the Swenson Case had three marks identical to her's(and they were already dead and buried). Surely that was no coincidence. What if she was next?

For the first time in her life Scully wasn't in anyway aware of her actions at least until she had found herself right in front of Mulder, the door of his motel room shut and the area around them bathed in soft candlelight. For the first time since she was a child, Dana Scully forgot all pretenses of appearing strong, independant and calm as she rushed to his side for assurance that she wasn't losing her mind. (Spooky Mulder of all people!)

For the first time in years, Scully found herself needing the insight of another person, the reassurance of another individual. She needed him. FBI protocol and the appearance of strength thrown to the wind, forgotten out in the story outside the door of Mulder's room.

The gentle candlelight flickered sensually in his hand, his hazel eyes glowing in a mixture of surprise and concern. He really hadn't been expecting to see her again until morning (but he wasn't conplaining)

Scully tried adamantly to ignore the intimacy of what was happening as she stripped down to her underwear in front of the man who had only been her partner for the last 48 hours. She found herself trusting him despite the boundaries she had set for herself earlier.

She felt a chill run through her body at tge sudden expose to the cool air in the room but this was quickly remedied as soon as Mulder's fingers brushed against her bare skin.

Mulder approached her carefully, keeping a respectful distance as his fingers trailed down her back towards the three spots on her lower back.

He holds her in an attentive gaze, looking concerned and thoughtful, trying to ease her worry with the lightness of his touch and the unspoken tenderness in his features. (Maybe his fears were the same as her's? Would their fears be less if the sentiment was shared?

In this moment Fox Mulder is still red but not the burning, fast moving kind of before. He is a soft red sky, learning to trust his soulmate and hoping to some unnamed god (that he isn't even sure he believes in) that her actions tonight are a sign that Scully is learning to trust him too.

Scully could feel his puffs of breath against her back as he chuckled in relief once he realised what the marks truly were. Scully felt her panic melt at the sound of his laughter but she wanted to be sure. "What are they?", she asked seriously.

"They're only mosquito bites", Mulder said with a good-natured laugh. "I got eaten alive myself out there".

She turned around to look at him. His eyes were clear and honest. He was telling the truth (or at least believed himself that he was doing so). There was nothing to worry about.

Scully could no longer contain her relief as she launched herself into his arms, embracing him as soon as she had wrapped her bathrobe back around her.

She didn't care anymore that he was her FBI partner because right now he was so much more than that. Without even doubting herself for trusting him, Scully had found herself in Mulder's arms in search of is comfort and reassurance.

That was something she rarely sought off of anyone let alone someone she had met only days before. Was that because he was her soulmate or simply because he was Mulder.

Mulder hesitated slightly at first, unsure if the affection that he was aching to give was really what Scully wanted, but he nonetheless dropped his head into her scarlet hair and held on to her, pressing a swift kiss to the top of her head(a little lingering for a friend but not overstepping any lines that there may be too much).

"Are you okay?", he asked softly, mumbling deeply into her hair, his arms tightening on her hips.

He knew that she may be beginning to regret the way she had reacted to the marks but Mulder didn't think any less of her in anyway for coming to him with her fears, in fact he was glad that she was beginning to trust him because he had a feeling that it was almost as hard to gain her trust as it was his.

Somehow this thought made him feel warm inside. Perhaps they were as dissimilar as they had originally imagined.

Mulder watched the red tinge appear on her cheeks as her electric blue eyes became downcast as if for the first time fully accepting her actions.

He half expected her to move away from him and hurry back to her own room, the whole event never to be spoken of again.

She didn't.

Scully felt the heart beat relax as the reality set in. 'There's nothing wrong with me', she thought calmly. 'There is nothing wrong with me and now I'm full on cuddling against my FBI partner'. Scully wasn't sure if she could look at him. She stayed exactly where she was,inhaling the smell of him and trying to push away her thoughts that she knew were inappropriate between FBI partners, like how his arms felt like a safe refuge and how she couldn't help but trust him.

Mulder patiently waited for her to say or do something, revelling in the feeling of holding her much smaller body against his.

For the first time since he met her he saw her as another human who like him was vulnerable and breakable. For the first time he didn't see the stubbornly fierce and sceptical Agent Scully but the woman inside. He felt entranced by her as if she was a drug that he wanted more and more of but could not quite get close enough to properly consume.

Scully nodded against his chest. "Yeah".

She looked up slightly to gauge his reaction to the way she had acted. Scully knew that she would berate herself for acting in such a way in front of her new partner later, would be very angry with herself for acting like she was some sort of airheaded, incompetent and naive agent who had never been on the field before. Scully knew that she wasn't that person and hoped Mulder knew that too.

She moved slightly to pull out of his embrace but Mulder continued to hold her, his arms looped entirely around her body.

When he spoke he was so close to her that Scully could feel his warm breath on his face and his nose was only millimetres from touching her's. His hazel eyes were alight and intense with burning heat and crimson passion.

"You can see the colours now too, right?", Mulder asked quietly, his lips only a hair's breath from her's. A rush of confidence flooded through him but not enough to pull her even closer to him.

He wasn't going to push her any further by pulling her in tge last few vital centimetres. Not if that was not what she wanted. Mulder wanted to so badly because even though he had only just met her recently she already felt profoundly important to him.

"Because my world has never been brighter from the second I met you",he finished in a whispe, feeling raw at this declaration (as though he was in the same state of undress as her) because he knew his brutal honesty could easily have scared her away.

It didn't.

Scully felt herself burn in the sea of the passionate red that was Mulder. He was as fiery as she was, as stubborn, as strong willed and they burned in the passion together.

She suddenly became very aware of how little she was wearing and how easy it would be to let him make her entirely bare, how pleasurable it would be to make him equally as bare as he would make her.

She burned for him and she could feel through his clothes just how much he burned for her.

He wasn't the only one who was red, so was she and together they were a burning sea and sky, more passionate and tense then imaginable.

Scully stood up on tip toes, quickly pulling him down to merge his lips with her's. If he wasn't going to make the last move to bring them together when it was blatantly obvious they both wanted it so badly then she would do so with pleasure.

She dragged his face downwards to her level, her fists clutching his shirt in an iron grip. He tightened his embrace, settling both of his hands on her hips.

They crackled like fire and the lightening in the clouds outside.

As soon as his lips met her's Scully quickly realised how right it felt to have him with her. Why people make such a big deal about having a soulmate.

It's not some stupid thing to do with society at all. It is a person who can make you feel things on a level that no one else can.

Scully loosened her grip on his body a little to undo the first few buttons of his shirt, all the while her lips barely leaving his. She smiled into his mouth as his tongue glided across her upper lip, seeking the entrance that she willing gave. They battled for dominance, both determined to not let the other succeed. Scully tangled her fingers into his soft brown hair, revelling in the feeling of the peace that such passionate making out brought her. It was akin to nothing she had every felt before. the ardency. The fire. Red. It was all Mulder. It was all Scully. It was them. Together they burned like a bonfire.

Mulder growled softly into her mouth, scooping her straight up off of the ground. Scully wasted no time in wrapping her legs around his waist. He responded by holding her tightly against his body and continued to enthusastically explore her mouth, relishing in the sound of her moans of pleasure.

Mulder groaned loudly as Scully bit his lower lip, teasing it into her mouth with her top and bottom teeth. He grinned pulling back for a second to make sure she was okay with how quickly one thing was leading to another.

"Are you sure that you're okay about this, Scully?", he asked genuinely, setting her on the ground in front of him for a moment.

Scully smirked, looping her arms around his neck whole gesturing to her dressing gown and underwear. "Help me out of this will you, Mulder?", she asked innocently as though she was asking him to borrow a pen or to pull over into a gas station for a bathroom break.

"Sure thing, partner".

Mulder's warm hands ran across her hips and across her flat stomach, reaching for the ribbon that she had hastily tied a minute before when she had hugged him.

He tugged it open and with one swift motion, leaving her as bare as earlier in front of him. The difference was that this time Scully seemed perfectly confident in her actions and Mulder took his time to notice some of the little things he had passed over before in an attempt to be respectful to his partner.

Smiling,he reached down to drop a few sloppy but ardent kisses to her chest, neck and collar bone before discovering a more sensitive spot in the skin on her upper neck and ear lobe.

"Muulder", Scully cried softly, running her finger down along his still clothed back, immediately considering him over dressed for the occasion. "Take this thing off", she ordered tugging open the last few buttons on his shirt, discarding it on the floor.

Mulder smirked slightly. "As you wish", he teased as he began massaging her hips, resulting in the pair of them ending up buckling and grinding their bodies against one another.

He made her see red, every shade imaginable. He burned like the sun in her arms as intense and passionate a red as could be possibly imagined.

They were passion. They were the increased heart rates and the release of adrenaline. Together they burned like stars, the celestial balls of fire millions of miles from the earth.

That was how they felt together, burning millions of miles away from all else.

Scully automatically felt herself reaching for the rest of Mulder's clothes. He had seen quite a lot of her body already and now was her turn to have a look at his. She ran her hands down across his chest, across the tight muscles of his abdomen to the waistband of his jeans to start unbuckling his belt and undoing the top and only bottom, tugging his flies down.

Mulder smiled, kicking off his jeans the rest of the way and pulling Scully's hips back against his.

She could feel his enthusiasm against her stomach and the feeling of his arousal only made her want him even more. She could feel heat pool up inside her again and every layer on Mulder's body became one to many.

They were red in every sense of the word. Red as in caution. Red as in danger. Red as in 'you could get hurt'. Red as in 'If you don't slow down now you could fucking loose your job'.

What they were doing could prove dangerous to their careers. They had already broken most of the rules of a male/female partnership and the final one that was still unbroken probably wasn't going to remain as such for longer if they didn't stop to consider their actions.

Wait', she thought abruptly, pulling back. 'He's my FBI partner', the more logical part of herself declared. 'But he's also my soulmate'. God, this really was a mess.

Scully quickly disengaged her lips from Mulder's, looking up at him for some kind of answer for a question she didn't really want to speak out loud.

She knew the rules at the FBI, male and female agents weren't supposed to be even in the same hotel room at any given time. Everything that had happened between them had been totally against bureau policy and if there was one thing she had learned growing up in a naval household it was to respect authority.

"Mulder. Our jobs!", she said seriously, pulling out of his embrace. "We'll be in so much trouble at work if Skinner finds out about this", her heart was still racing from Mulder's proximity but she voiced her reservations anyway, the one thing holding them back.

The burning red between them had faded to a hot pink (more tender, considerate and thoughtful) when Mulder replied.

"Do you want this, Scully?", he asked, his voice husky but his eyes genuine. "Because I won't tell if you won't".

Scully considered his proposal for half a beat before dragging his face down to meet her's again. "I just want all of you", she murmured against his lips. "Now".

So what if they were going behind Skinner and Kersh's back. He was her soulmate and she was his. Being together felt right, like some fundamental part of the universe was finally making since even if nothing else about the world they lived in did.

"Then fuck the rules", Mulder said with a mischievous smile against her lips as they tumbled backwards on to the bed, the last of their underwear being hastily shoved off as they tugged each other closer, willing their bodies to become one.

...

Later they lay in bed, a tangle of sheets, sweat, limbs and bodies. The candle on the bedside table flickered and the rain bashed heavily against the windows, drowning out the sounds of their love making.

Mulder let Scully in on the secrets that both everyone and no one at the FBI or anywhere else knew.

He told her the real story of what happened to his sister and what he would do when he found the men responsible for taking her.

He told Scully why finding the truth was so important to him. He told her how the loss of his sister had affected him as he grew up and how it continued to affect him everyday. He told her how close he was to the truth and of the passionate anger he felt towards those who kept it from him.

He showed her the very core of what made him Red.

Mulder was grateful for her silence as he told her his life's story. He was glad that she hadn't said 'Sorry' or 'I understand' like other people did because that never helped in the slightest.

But then again Dana Scully wasn't like other people and for that reason he knew that he was already beginning to fall in love with her.

Scully was grateful for his honesty, glad that she now understood him better, glad that she had some insight on how he ticked. Her heart went out to him at the loss of a sibling (she couldn't even bare to think about loosing Charlie or Missy or Bill) but she said nothing. Scully always found that actions speak louder than words.

Mulder showed her that he not only loved in red but he hated in red too.

Scully came to see why the man who lay as naked as the day he was born next to her in the bed way was the way he was.

The man she saw next to her wasn't spooky or crazy or enigmatic or any of the other silly descriptions that the other agents that Scully had worked with in the past had bestowed upon him.

He was a complicated man made up of many shades of red, bound on a journey that she was now a part of. He had carried the cross of his sister's abduction since he was twelve years old and now Scully promised to help him carry that very cross for as long as she could.

She was there just like he was to solve this.

Together they decided it was best to keep certain details of their partnership a secret for the safety of their jobs and for The X-Files. Becoming public knowledge was not a risk worth taking if it meant they or anybody else could get hurt in the process.

Neither of them seeked public validation of any sort anyway. It didn't matter what other people thought of them. The only thing that mattered was the truth that they both knew, the colours that theyvshared and the mutual feelings that glowed like burning embers in the pit of their very souls, the embers that would hope fully never burn out.

'And besides', Mulder said teasingly as the phone beside them began to ring loudly. 'Being a secret could be pretty damn sexy'.

Scully rolled her eyes, swatting him on the side as he reached over to the bedside table, grabbing the phone off of the receiver.

"It's for the best, Mulder", she said seriously. Being sexy was only an added bonus. Not that she would admit something like that to him (his ego would explode).


	3. Black

Chapter 3: Black

The Meaning Behind; Black

¨ Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

¨ Black is a mysterious colour associated with fear and the unknown (black holes).

¨ It usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humour,black death and various forms of contamination and disease)

The whole case was cloaked in darkness and the unknown, hidden in the shadows from the blinding light of all known science, extracted from ice almost two hundred thousand years down, extracted from the unknown.

Extracted from the darkness.

There was no question about how deadly those below freezing temperatures-living organisms were. They were a parasite nothing like Scully had ever seen in all her years studying Biology in high school and later on in college and medical school. It shouldn't be possible that one single worm could control the mind and body of a person, turning them black, cold and murderous without any sense or morals to define right from wrong.

They couldn't let the outside world be exposed to such a parasite, huge cities could be wiped out in days, countries wiped out in week. The world's life could be smothered out by the all consuming evil induced by a tiny living entity.

It should be impossible but here was all the proof needed by any scientist who had seen and experienced what they had. The proof was there in a narrow tube of glass and in the dead bodies that she, Scully, had examined earlier, the first and hopefully the last to fall as the parasite's victims.

It was a power no one living thing should be responsible for. It was a power too sinister and too great to be left to chance.

The darkness was already spreading among them. People were already turning on each other contaminated or not. Could anyone really be trusted?

At least for now they were all uncontaminated. They had all check themselves in the presence of others and none of them had been infected.

At least for now.

Mulder and Scully made there was down the narrow corridor to the rooms that were once occupied by the scientists and biologists who had extracted the lethal organisms from the ice, the scientists who were now dead, claimed by the parasites, the darkness and the unknown.

Forevermore to be cloaked in black.

"Good Night, Mulder", Scully said quietly, looking around quickly to make sure everyone else were already in their own rooms.

They had tried to be as discrete as they possibly could over the last couple of weeks, only spending the night together a handful of times and never on cases.

However in the wake of everything that happened during the day; Scully felt her resolve weakening

She could loose him at any moment to this. Just as he could lose her.

Could they really face off as the two men that had been caught on tape had? The same two men that now lay dead in the makeshift morgue in one of the back rooms.

Was she and Mulder even safe around one another?

Would a single organism really have the power to make two people who made each other see in colour turn against one another so vehemently to end each other's lives?

"Night, Scully", Mulder replied softly, a vague and humourless smile playing about on his lips as though he was reading her thoughts. He had a fair idea what was bothering her because it was bothering him too.

Was there really anyone that they could trust down here?

"At least everyone is okay", Scully said, voice wavering slightly as though she was trying to convince herself more than make a confident statement.

Mulder gazed at her seriously, his eyes almost black in the darkness of the hallway when the heavy words fell from his lips, a reminder of the truth she had overlooked in her short-lived optimism. "But don't forget, The spots on the dog went away".

"Well then who can we trust?", Scully asked rhetorically, not expecting his reply. It was a statement more than anything else because If that was the case then neither of them really could trust anyone, probably not ever one another.

Mulder stepped closer to her, dropping his head until his lips were only inches away from hers, his breath hot on her cheek. "I want to trust you, Scully", he whispered quietly even though it was highly unlikely that they could be overheard by the others even if he spoke aloud.

Scully dropped her voice to match his, all the while watching him intently. She felt paranoia eating away at the lining of her stomach, perhaps it was due to the amount of time she had been spending with Mulder in the last few weeks that his paranoia was rubbing off on her or perhaps it was an unexplored part of herself that had lay dormant in the darkest pit of herself until now.

She was falling in love with him, that Scully knew and had made peace with by the end of their first case together but did she trust him wholeheartedly even when he may or may not be himself.

She did (or at least she wanted too).

Scully couldn't help but want to trust him just as she believed that he wanted to trust her. She wanted to have some to rely on down here when any of they others could easily become crazy and violent.

Not that Scully was nervous about handling herself around someone who wasn't in their right mind, seven years of medical training and two years at the FBI academy in Quantico had seen to that.

She just wanted to believe that at least one person aside from herself was still holding on to their sanity and as selfish as it may sound, she wanted that person to be Mulder.

"Then let me examine you for myself", Scully asked seriously, her voice firm as she awaited his response.

"Only if I can do the same", Mulder replied, biting back the sexual innuendo that was on the tip of his tongue at her suggestion. This was a serious and fragile matter. A matter of trust.

Mulder knew that he couldn't help but want to trust her no matter the circumstances. It was usually his natural instinct to distrust anyone that may stand between him and his truth and even though Scully's initial assignment to debunk The X-Files should put a severe strain on their relationship for some reason it didn't.

It was Mulder's natural instinct to trust no one just as much as it was his natural instinct to trust and love his FBI partner. It sounded messed up and complicated for sure, especially considering that they had only known and been working together for a few weeks.

But it was the truth. He may have never trusted anyone but himself since Samantha's disappearance but he also loved and trusted Scully more than anyone he had ever met before.

It was crazy but true.

Scully nodded sombrely at his request to examine her back too, as though it was some sort of business deal. She quickly opened the door of her room and with one final glance over her shoulder to make sure no one who could report their behaviour to the FBI was around, she beckoned him inside. "Alright, Mulder. Come on in."

Mulder smirked affectionately, passing her on his way in. "Are you coming on to me during a case, Scully?", he asked in an attempt to defuse the tension that had been not only been building up between them not only in the final moments of their conversation but in the looks that them shared all day as well (at least when their lives weren't in danger).

Scully rolled her eyes, shutting the door behind her. "I just want to see for myself that you're okay, Mulder. I care that much", she said, trying to speak devoid of emotion.

They were on a case after all. They had agreed on a professional exterior when they were on cases even when they were alone together. "I want to see for myself as your partner", she said reasonably as she motioned for him to take his shirt off.

Mulder smiled sheepishly, pulling his long-sleeved white t-shirt over his head in one swift tug, turning his back towards her to examine. "Fire away then, Doc".

Scully approached him slowly, running her palms down the length of his spine, massaging his neck area for anything even slightly out of the norm.

Nothing.

She slid her bare hands over the skin of his back, despite herself enjoying the pleasant sensation of feeling his body close to hers. His nicely tanned felt as warm, smooth and toned against her fingers as it had been the last time they slept together in her Georgetown apartment.

A breath of relief escaped her as she stepped back, pushing her thoughts aside and her emotions back in order. "You're not infected, Mulder", she told him firmly, in a tone not unlike the one she had used when working with patients during her residency.

He turned around to face her, his body only inches from hers. Scully knew she wanted to prolonging touching him, but she was concerned for his bareness; especially considering how easy it would be to let herself become bare too. So bare that she would forget that he was another person, it would feel as if one was just another part of the other. It would no longer matter where one ended and the other began.

'He's your partner, Dana', she thought to herself sternly. 'No thoughts like that until we're both off duty'.

"My turn", Mulder stated only half-seriously as he motioned for her to turn her back on him as he had done to her, "We've got to make sure that you don't go all 'Crazy Scully' on me", he whispered teasingly, bending down a few inches so that he was at eye-level with her.

Scully chuckled darkly, turning her back to him. The effects that the parasites has on people wasn't really something that they should be joking about. It had turned colleagues, co-workers and maybe even friends against each other. The thought of being infected made Scully's blood run cold in discomfort. She couldn't imagine doing what those men had done to each other to Mulder or even to the others.

She tried to push these thoughts aside and focus on something a little more positive, even if it was the sensation of Mulder's body pressed gently against her body even when it shouldn't be.

As soon as she was facing her bedroom door, Scully felt Mulder's warm hands come to rest on the nape of her neck, gently pushing the collar of her loosely fitting shirt down a little to expose a few inches of skin. It felt good and right. A welcome distraction to the darkness of the case that they were working on.

It wasn't until he pressed the heel of his hand softly into her shoulder that she barely stifled a moan.

'For God's sake, Dana', she thought, frustrated with herself as her mind unintentionally began to wander to other things that his hand could and have done to her over the last few weeks. 'You are on a case in freaking Alaska. Now is not the time or place for sexual thoughts about your partner'.

Mulder smirked in amusement as though he could hear the thoughts that were going on inside her head. He really did love how he was getting to know her better, little by little the more that they worked together, the elusive Dana Scully was becoming less of a mystery to him in some ways and even more of a mystery in other ways. She was like a puzzle that he would never grow tired of figuring out.

Gently rubbing across the skin on her neck and upper back (as far as he could reach without unbuttoning her shirt), Mulder stroked away any knots of tension that he could feel, as soon as he was sure that everything felt as it should and that Scully was 'parasite free'.

"You're all good, Scully", he confirmed, his lips ghosting over the cartilage of her ear. "Free of all alien, ice dwelling bugs."

Scully smirked lazily, expecting him to release his gentle hold on her but he continued to massage any skin his fingers could reach, across her shoulders, across the back of her neck and far down her back he could reach. "Glad to her it", she said, groaning quietly as his fingers got to a particularly tender spot.

Mulder smiled mischievously, dropping a kiss on the patch of skin between the base of her neck and her shoulder. He had seen many different sides to Scully over the last few weeks, some of which he found endearing and some frustrating but admittedly he had a soft spot for her when she was aroused and knew that she couldn't do anything about it.

It made half of him want to tease her further even if it may possibly mean pissing her off, while the other half simply wanted to throw bureau police to the wind and satisfy her needs and his own.

Mulder gently bushed her hair that was laying in a short ponytail away from her neck, squeezing the muscles behind her shoulder-blades lightly.

"We really shouldn't be doing this, Mulder. We're on a case", Scully commented, her body subconsciously gravitating towards his skilled touch.

Mulder sighed, his breath tickling down her back and underneath her shirt. "I know, Scully", he agreed, softly peck her on the neck as he pulled away. "And you're right", he said, looking at bit disappointed, like a little boy being robbed of his candy.

His eyes asked her an unspoken question.

Scully observed him in amusement, stepping back and turning around to face him, chuckling a little at his expression. How was it that in the middle of the Alaskan chaos that they had found themselves drawn into, Mulder could still make her smile?

"Come here, Mulder", she said quietly. No matter how she tried to deny it, she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight in this icy hellhole without him by her side. She wanted his company as she was almost certain that he wanted hers. "Just as long as you behave."

Scully tugged him gently by the hand, guiding him further into the darkness of her bedroom to the small one person mattress in the corner.

"I always behave, Scully", Mulder retorted sarcastically. "You're the rebel in this relationship."

"Alright Mulder if you want to deny it go ahead", she said in the same tone as he had used, rolling her eyes as she sat down on the mattress. "I'll still know the truth."

"Well, you know me. I'm all about the truth", Mulder replied, looking down at her feeling almost transfixed by her playfulness. He found just about everything about her captivating after all.

In a short space of time, Dana Scully had somehow become his beacon of light in the darkness that had been his life ever since Samantha's disappearance. 'Damn it, man', he thought to himself. 'I've fallen hard'.

Scully shook her head in amusement. Even in the darkness, Mulder was certain that he saw a tiny sparkle in her eyes, something that he hadn't seen since they arrived at the Alaskan laboratory.

Scully reached out for him, wrapping her slender arms, tightly around his waist as she gently led him down onto the mattress next to her. Even though she would never admit it to him out loud, Scully enjoyed the closeness between them during stolen moments whenever they weren't on cases (or in this case, ignoring the fact that they were)

Mulder smiled into her red hair, inhaling the now familiar scent of her shampoo. The bed was far too small for the pair of them, having certainly been made with the comfort of only one person in mind.

But that was still alright.

They were like two jigsaw pieces that were fitted perfectly together in the darkness of Scully's bedroom, silent as they watched each other's backs, protecting one another from the danger that could be lurking outside the door ready to overwhelm them at any moment.

Their guns ready, left neatly on the bedside locker.

Waiting in the darkness...


	4. Green

_**The Spectrum of Light: Chapter 4**_

* * *

 _ **Green**_  
 _Someone who feels sick might look " **green around the gills** ," and certain yellow-gray greens have a distinctly **unpleasant** , institutional feel to them. We link green with **envy** and with greed, see ' **Green with Envy** '. We assosiate the colour with **jealousy** and **possieveness** , a desire and protectiveness for people and things that belong to us, see ' **The Green eyed Monster** '. It's the color we associate with the environment and with **aliens** but it's also the color of **revitalization** , **safety** , **compassion** , **balance** , **equality** and **harmony**._

Dana Scully had never even considered herself to possessive person before. She wasn't the type who got jealous easily and never really felt comfortable with the idea of belonging to someone or someone belonging to her. She never really felt this way, this strongly, before but now the so called 'Green Eyed Monster' was rearing it's ugly head in the pit of her stomach and the sensation felt almost alien.

And it was all because she met Phoebe Green.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"That's weird. I was sure I locked it", Mulder stated looked down at his navy blue Toyota, a little confused. He forgot very few things and he was damn sure that he had locked his car on the way to work that morning.

The sky was bright and the clouds were like sandcastles in the sky but Mulder and Scully were going to be inside doing paper work all day.

Scully smirked, picking up their case files from the bonnet and slid into the car unfazed. "Must be an X-File", she replied, smiling to herself. Had she, in fact, managed to tucker out the FBI's most unwanted the night previous to the point where he actually forgot his more than slightly paranoid ways and left his car unlocked.

Shaking his head, Mulder followed her into the car, deciding to leave his concerns aside for now. 'I was probably just tired and forgot', he mused despite the fact he was an insomniac and hardly ever got tired at all. He hadn't slept the previous night but that had far less to do with his sleeping disorder and far more to do with his redheaded FBI partner.

"What's that?", Scully asked looking across the dashboard to the tape left neatly, propped up against the window behind the steering wheel. She knew that Mulder didn't really listen to music in the car so what would he be doing with cassette tapes.

Unless, of course, it was something from one of Mulder's informants. 'If that's the case then that would explain the doors being unlocked', Scully assumed, piecing it together.

Mulder picked up the tape, examining it for a moment. It certainly wasn't anything of his."I'll tell you when you can't dance to it."

As soon as Mulder pressed play, an obviously female British voice burst forth from the speakers. "Greetings, Agent Mulder. Six months ago British member of parliament Reggie Ellacot received an audio cassette much like the one you are listening to now..", Mulder looked around curiously, immediately recognizing the voice. After all, one does not forgot one's first heartbreak too easily.

"Unfortunately for him, putting the tape into his car's stereo armed a device. When he tried to exit the car, it created an explosion that could be heard five miles away...", glancing out of the window, Scully scanned the parking lot for anyone who might consider pulling a prank like this amusing but found nothing. Surely a fellow agent wouldn't try something like this no matter how immature they were. She felt herself go into autopilot, her FBI training kicking in. 'what if it wasn't a joke?'. The prospect wouldn't even surprise her anymore considering all the crazy stuff she and Mulder had already been through together. Scully looked over to Mulder, expecting to see his 'panic face' but was met by a mildly confused and curious expression on her partner's face.

Did he know someone who would pull something like this?

"The Scotland Yard Forensic Team could only identify the poor bastard by his dental records. If only he hadn't reached for the door handle and triggered the detonator. But how could he know that he was sitting on enough plastic explosives to lift the car forty feet into the air and to deposit the engine on a three story building..."

Just then the tape was cut off by the opening of the car door on Mulder's side, making both of them jump, all FBI training for these situations thrown to the wind. A tall willowy brunette with a white suit and pixie cut poked her head in the door, smiling brightly.

Mulder smiled to Scully who rolled her eyes and proceeded to get out of the car. She had never seen the brunette in her life before but judging by Mulder's recognition, he obviously did.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 **4 hours later**

"I was merely extending her a professional courtesy", Mulder argued, eyeing his redheaded partner and girlfriend across their desk curiously. Dana Scully couldn't be jealousy could she?

Mulder couldn't help a sheepish, boyish smile at the thought.

Scully rolled her eyes a little grumpily, sitting back down on her chair. It wasn't that she felt particularly threatened by Phoebe Green, she really didn't. After all, she trusted Mulder completely.

It was Phoebe that she didn't trust. From what Mulder had told her, it seemed like the woman could be manically manipulative and the last thing she wanted was him getting burned, excuse the pun considering the nature of the case that Phoebe dearest had come to the with.

Scully knew a woman on a mission when she saw one and she sure as hell knew that Phoebe had come to Mulder for a little more than help on an unexplained case.

"Oh, so that was what you were extending", she replied sarcastically, not being able to help her slight anger towards Mulder. Phoebe had kissed him after all and even though Mulder had cut it short, pulling back almost as soon as Phoebe had leaned in, Scully couldn't help but be a little pissed off with him

It was the first time she had wanted to introduce herself as Mulder's girlfriend rather than just his partner or friend but had bitten back her words for the sake of their jobs. God knows what an annoyed Phoebe Green could say to Skinner, Belvins or Kersh.

Nobody knew about them, not any of her siblings, The Gunmen or even her parents. Their relationship had been on a need to know basis for the world outside the two of them practically since it had first started. Most couples who saw colours after meeting were immediately under the careful watch of their families and friends, what would happen, how long would they date for and when the would get married.

A partner that you saw colours with was just about as ideal a romantic partnership as you could get and that's what she had with Mulder. Neither of them were particularly interested in shouting it from the rooftops for the time being and wanted to get to know one another, the universe pairing them up aside, so they had agreed that if someone should guess for themselves about the nature of their relationship that they wouldn't deny it.

But damn, she really felt like shouting it from the rooftops today.

Mulder smirked teasingly, getting up from his chair to sit in front of her on the desk. He set both hands on her shoulders, watching her with vague amusement. "Are you jealous, Scully", Mulder asked, eyes alight with mischief.

Scully raised a sceptical eyebrow, glaring up at him. "Of course not. What do you think I am, a teenaged schoolgirl?", she replied, perhaps a little too defensively, pulling away from him. "Don't flatter yourself, G-Man".

Mulder smiled goofily, settling his elbows on his knees, stretching down a little to her level until their noses were almost touching.

He observed her carefully with what felt like X-ray vision on her end. Chuckling, Mulder bumped her nose gently with his own, toeing the line on what she had deemed inappropriate affection for when they were on duty. "You are soo jealous", he declared playfully.

Scully swatted him lightly on the shoulder, rolling her eyes. "I worry about you is all. I can see that Phoebe still has a hold over you, I'm not blind."

Mulder shrugged, deciding to be totally honest with her on the matter of Phoebe Green, but not he may as well have a little funny with this new side of Scully that he had uncovered. He wanted to know each and every side to her intimately from A to Z .

"Not the hold that you think, Scully", he said simply, tucking a strand of hair behind her left ear. He didn't that they were at work anymore, he never did really but in that moment all he wanted to do was reassure her, to quell any doubts she may have. "I love you and only you, Scully. And if I help Phoebe with this case then I want you believe that wholly."

Scully smiled despite herself but remained with her arms folded stubbornly. "I'm not jealous, Mulder and I love you and trust you as well", she assured him quietly."I just know when something is mine", she said, words slipping out before she had control over them.

When they were out they were out, Scully knew that it exactly how she felt no matter how possessive a person that made her sound. Mulder was hers, not any ex girlfiriend's, all hers.

Mulder smiled mischievously, pupils appearing a little dilated at her words. "Am I yours?", he asked teasingly, placing both of his hands on her thighs. He liked jealous Scully but possessive Scully drove him wild.

Scully rolled her eyes, pulling him closer to her, reaching down to feel the growing bulge in his pants. She knew she had told him no sex in the office, on cases or on work nights but this may be a once off exception.

Damn him for bringing out the rulebreaker in her.

"All mine", she moaned out softly as his lips traced intricate patterns down her neck, nuzzling her buttons open. She loved him like this.

Mulder gripped her hips loosely, gently grinding against her, only their clothes separating them from the release that they both craved.

He yelped as she suddenly pulled away.

Gently extracting herself from his grasp, Scully grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, tossing it in his direction. "Let's get out of here early for once, Mulder".

He smiled, seeming almost a little dazed. "No arguments from me".

 _Jealousy, turning saints into the sea_

 _Swimming through sick lullabies_

 _Choking on your alibis_  
 _But it's just the price I pay_  
 _Destiny is calling me_  
 _Open up my eager eyes_  
 _Cause I'm Mr Brightside_

 _~Mr Brightside, The Killers._


	5. Orange

**The Spectrum of Light: Chapter 5 - Orange**

Orange's **stimulation** and **vibrancy** is associated with meanings of **joy** , **warmth** , heat, hunger, sunshine, **enthusiasm** , creativity, success, encouragement, **change** , determination, **happiness** , fun, wisdom, illumination, **understanding** , enjoyment, balance, **socialisation** , **sexuality** , freedom and fascination. It is the color of joy and **creativity**. Orange promotes a sense of **general wellness** and emotional energy that should be shared, such as **compassion, passion, and warmth**. While **made up of red and yellow,** it carries less aggression and **fierceness** than the color red due to its combination with the **calming** color yellow. Orange also helps aid **decision making,** the ability to socialise and enhances **happiness** , confidence, **assurance** and empathy.

"Mulder, there's no evidence for any of this", Scully said, sighing in frustration as she pulled her partner's Oxford college t-shirt over her head. After all, it was clear that he wasn't coming back to bed with her, judging by his newfound enthusiasm for the textbook crazy case he had dug up.

Pale orange sunlight flooded through the wooden blinds of Scully's Georgetown apartment faintly illuminating her bedroom, a idyllic contrast to the frosty early December streets outside.

It was almost difficult to stop noticing the various colours that had flooded their lives since meeting one another despite the situations.

Scully propped herself up with the pillows and pushed her round rimmed reading glasses up her nose, browsing the case file and his insanely detailed notes that would have looked crazy to anyone but her. "There was little to no proof that those murder victims were sacrificed as part of a ritual back in '73 and there's even less proof this time around. "She looked down at the two case files that he had presented her with skeptism and back up to where Mulder was lying, clad only in his boxer shorts, next to her, a contented smirk etched on his face as though he was 100% certain that he had thoroughly proved his point on the matter.

"Well that isn't exactly true, Scully. Plenty of aspect to both case can be linked back to the occult. For one, just look at the date the murders were committed on, a significant day in the pagan calendar exactly thirty years apart. "

She really would have enjoyed the sight of him in her bed if he didn't look so damn smug.

"Mulder, that's just coincidence", Scully said stubbornly, crossing her arms, ready to poke holes in his theories. "If anything, this is your typical serial killer case and belongs in the violent crimes department, not with us".

Mulder smiled, pulling her duvet up around him. He already had their plane tickets to San Francisco booked for Monday, but he wouldn't tell her that yet, at least not until he had convinced her that the case was worth their time. "Alright then, Scully. That's one person's opinion", he said. "I still think the same satanic cult or dark magic parishioners could be involved. Like I said, the murders were committed thirty years apart to the day and approximate time of death calculated by the coroner. Thirty is half of sixty. And six is one of the most symbolic numbers for dark magic parishioners and satanists."

Scully frowned, well aware that the bureau had never found any sort of evidence supporting the practices of Satanism or dark magic being involved in homicides in America either back in the seventies or now, that and she wasn't a big believer in witchcraft.

"Well first of all, there is no consistency between the cases, nothing that links them". Scully flipped to the next page of the report with photographs of victim's bodies and the autopsy report. "Going by the coroner's report, the drugs used to knock out the victims are different and the symbols that were branded into their bodies neither match up with one another or with any other symbols associated with conjury, the black arts, shamanism, divination, macumba, wika or any known kind of pagan or neopagan practices".

Mulder looked at her in amazement, eyes shining. He scooted a little closer to her on the mattress until his bare chest was pressed flush against her back. Bending slightly, he set his chin against her (partially to read the file over her shoulder and partially to tease her ) and placed a trail of lingering kisses on her neck from shoulder to ear, his warm inviting hands only mere inches from her chest.

He had always found smart to be sexy after all.

Scully wiggled out of his grasp without another glance at him and continued determinedly, ignoring his advances for now. He was, after all, the one who brought work into their bed. Literally and not for the first time in the past year of their partnership/ personal relationship.

"Hell, the bureau was even out there in '73 and they came up with nothing when they searched the area for anything that would suggest a satanic cult or sorcery. Not a hexine, blood stone, familiar or any other talisman associated with high or low magic in sight. My guess is that the investigators when the case was closed in '73 were right when they closed the case as a serial murder attempting to imitate a ritualistic killing and that the murders happening now are either a coincidence or a copycat of what happened twenty years ago", she concluded, turning to him expectantly, awaiting his insistent and stubborn speech on how conventional her wisdom sometimes could be.

"Scully", Mulder said, with an almost breathy reverence that made her do a double take on him to make sure he was just teasing her. "Marry me?".

Scully glanced up at him over the rims of her glasses, eyebrows raised. "I was expecting something a little more helpful", she replied, her eyes betraying her deadpan tone.

Mulder smirked affectionately, drawing her closer to him until she was practically on his lap. This time, she relented, dropping the case file like a hotcake on her nightstand for the time being.

She settled her head back against her chest, enjoying the sensation of his strong arms twinning around her body. Leaning this close to him, she could smell sex and the remaining scent of his cologne from the day before, that and something she couldn't put her finger on, something that was entirely Mulder. They would talk more about the case, but later when they were back in the basement or at least a little more clothed.

"That wasn't entirely a joke", Mulder offered quietly against her hair. And it hadn't been, sometime between when she had pulled on his oversized t-shirt and started talking brutal murders and ritualistic killings, Mulder had decided he would rather be nowhere else and with nobody else in the entire world. He loved her more than he ever thought possible to love another person, totally and completely. "You do know that, right?"

Scully looked up at him a little quizzically. It wasn't that she didn't feel the same way, she was damn well sure she did. But their jobs were so important to the two of them and there were people both in the bureau and elsewhere that would use their relationship either against them or as a means to keep them apart, and thus away from the truth. "Mulder, we can't get married now or any time soon. You said it yourself before, they would shut us down."

Mulder nodded against her, pouting a little. She was right after all. There were times that he was almost certain that their basement was tapped and he wouldn't be half surprised if their apartments were too. A marriage certificate would just be waving it in the faces of their enemies. "I know, Scully. Like hell, I know. But I would marry you if I could."

Scully smirked softly, shifting her body around until she wasn't sitting on his lap any longer but straddling his waist, lightly pinning him to the head board of her bed. "If things were different, Mulder and we wouldn't be split up, I would say 'yes'."

She tilted his head so she look him in the eye. He threw her a conspiratorial half smile as though she really had agreed to marry him. "But for now", she continued decidedly. "I don't trust anyone but myself to watch your six."

It was true though, she would rather be able to have his back on the field than be split up and have them worried about one another but bound on paper as a unnecessary addition to what they already had. Mulder's friendship and love had brought glorious technicolour to her life since meeting him, as hers did to him. The universe brought them together but they chose to remain together.

That meant something, everything even, but not necessarily that rings had to go on fingers as the rest of the world seemed to believe. As long as he loved, trusted and respected her and she did the same to him, that was enough.

Mulder sighed deeply, squeezing her hips gently. The sentiment went both ways after all. He wouldn't trust anyone but himself to have her back either. He never had had a partner he could work with as easily and efficiently as her, despite their very different opinions on almost everything. "Scully", he said affectionately, bumping her nose against his own. "You're the only one I trust."

"Likewise, partner", Scully replied with a smile, setting both her hands on either side of his face, tracing the curve of his larger bottom lip with her thumbs. She kneeled up until she was a few inches above him, her stomach pressed against his firm muscular chest and his chin nestled in the valley between her clothed breasts.

Mulder looked up at her, a crooked smile on his face. Groaning softly, he stretched up the few final inches to meet her, crushing his lips with hers and letting his hand run underneath her (or rather his) t-shirt to the waistband of her panties.

Scully moaned in ecstasy into his mouth, kneeling down against him in order to pull him closer to her, if that was humanly possible.

She dragged her lips slowly across his, prying them apart and plunging her tongue deep into the familiar depths of his mouth to tangle with his. She could feel his arousal inside his boxer shorts growing against her panties and grinded against him, revelling in the sweet sensation of feeling him hard against her.

Mulder smirked devilishly, gripping her tightly by the hips and flipping them over so he was on top. He pushed her gently on the mattress, depositing some but not all of his body weight on top of her. Gently, he reached for the hem of her very oversized shirt, pulling it off with one swift motion over her head.

"Shorts off, Mulder", Scully demanded, her back arching against him as she reached for his waist to pull off his boxer shorts. She stifled a whimper as his hands slipped down her body from shoulders to hips, settling on her inner thighs. "C'mon, Mulder", she said squirming underneath him and lifting her hips to collide with his, getting just a taste of the release she needed since both of them were still partially clothed from the waist down. "I want you inside me."

Mulder chuckled against her collar bone, placing loud open mouthed kisses to her neck, his mouth warm and inviting against her skin. "Scully, we both know we're good for more than once." He replied with a smile, sighing deeply as he nuzzled her ear, inhaling the scent of her.

Apple blossom shampoo, formaldehyde and sex.

He started moving against her, only their underwear keeping them a hairs breath apart. Neither of them took any notice as a knock came to Scully's front door only a room away, totally inhibited and drunk on one another's touch.

Scully hummed in agreement, reaching up to caress her Mulder's face, hips once again buckling upwards to meet his. "We got this, partner", she replied firmly, certain of their sexual prowess and let her hands wander from his jawline to his ass.

Mulder groaned aloud, getting into his usual kind of rhythm and Scully moaned, biting down on his shoulder to stop herself from alerting her elderly next door neighbours of her and her partner's dry humping activities.

"Mmmh, right there Mulder. Harder!"

"Scuuuully"

"I think I'm gonna come soon."

"Mmmmh, I'll be right after you".

"Uhhh, Jesus Christ. That's fucking perfect."

"No, it's not Jesus. I'm afraid it's just me, baby".

"Shut up, Mulder. And fuck me harder."

"Oooh, someone likes dirty talk."

Another knock sounded, a little more hurried than last time as though the person outside was concerned, but again neither of them heard it, too caught up in the throes of passion.

Just then the click of a lock echoed through the apartment followed by the sound of a door opening and two sets of footsteps entering the apartment.

"Everything okay in here, Starbuck?", a voice called out in concern from the hallway, just outside the door by the sounds of it. "It's us."

Scully, who immediately recognised her father's voice, sat up quickly in alarm, bumping her head hard against Mulder's. "Crap.", she muttered, rubbing her head.

Head spinning a little from the contact, Mulder looked down at Scully from where he was, his body hovering just above hers. "Ouch, what was that for? You okay, Scully?", he asked, his voice husky.

"That's my dad outside", she replied, whispering quickly and quietly despite still being a little disorientated, partially from hitting her head off of Mulder's, not to mention her almost orgasm.

"They have a key?"

"Of course they have a key! Everyone gives their parents a key!"

In the midst of everything, she had totally forgotten that she had agreed to meet her parents for Sunday brunch after mass when she had called over a week ago to say that she was going to be out of town for at least six or seven days on a case.

"Shit", Mulder mumbled under his breath, attempting to roll off of her but unfortunately not managing it before Scully's bedroom door opened, revealing a middle aged couple who he supposed were her mom and dad.

"Hey Starbu-", William Scully started but stopped when his eyes landed on his daughter who was perched, in what would be a contented fashion if it wasn't for her expression of shock at seeing her parents, under a man he had never before seen in his life.

Mulder looked from Scully to her parents, feeling a little like a deer caught in the headlights. He knew he would end up meeting Scully's parents at some point, either in the near or further future, but he had never envisioned it quite like this, with him and Scully lying in her bed half naked and sporting matching reddish bumps on their foreheads. Acting on his first instinct, he grabbed his t-shirt, that he had pulled over Scully's head earlier and tossed it over her upper body, covering her up from shoulder to mid thigh.

Scully felt her cheeks burn until she was certain that her crimson completion would have rivalled her hair. She wanted to say something, anything really, but the words kept on catching in her throat. Her head was still spinning a little from her collision with Mulder and the craziness of the situation they had landed themselves in.

"We can come back later, sweetheart", Maggie Scully said, attempting a kind word despite her shock. "Or tomorrow." She looked between her daughter and the young man in her daughter's bed, stepping backwards over the threshold and into the kitchen.

William Scully, on the other hand, didn't move and said nothing at all, mirroring his daughter's beet red completion.

Pulling her husband out of his frozen state, Maggie reached for his elbow, dragging him into the kitchen with her. "She hasn't been a little girl for years, Bill. I don't know why you're so surprised", she muttered sternly under her breath as she escorted him out the door, shutting it behind her.

Mulder and Scully fell completely silent as they listened intently to the older couple bicker outside the door in hushed voices. It sounded as though William Scully Sr had come to his sense and had snapped out of his shocked stupor.

"But she's our youngest daughter, Maggie."

"For God's sake, Bill. She's a twenty eight year old woman, a full qualified medical doctor and an FBI agent. You shouldn't be so shocked, we had three children at her age."

"Yes, but we were married for five years at her age."

"That's besides the point, Bill. That was years ago, things are different now with the younger generation and you always said how proud you were of her being so career driven. She would have been doing her pre-med at the age we got married at "

"Maggie, you know as well as I do how proud I am of her with all of her accomplishments. In fact, I'm glad she isn't married with a family yet. I'm just worried about who that guy is that she has in her bed."

"In the name of all that is sacred, Bill. Dana is a grown woman, trust her judgment. If she thinks the young man she has in there with her in good enough for her, than he's good enough for you too."

"I'm not saying that, Maggie. I have the greatest respect for Dana's judgment. But she is my daughter after all and I would like to form my own opinion on the man she's carrying on with."

"You don't think she could have found her soulmate."

"Of course not Maggie, she would have told us if she had started seeing in colour. I reckon this is just another take on like all the young people are having these days"

"Holy Shit", Scully mumbled, sliding out from underneath Mulder until she was standing at the edge of mattress, naked apart from her panties. Her dizziness from her head colliding with Mulder's had now worn off and what had just happened was finally beginning to kick in now that her father was conversing loudly with her mother about "take ons".

Deciding that she better set her parents straight on her and Mulder's relationship/partnership before they meet him, Scully began searching for her clothes from last night and groaned once again in frustration when she remembered that Mulder had undressed her down to her underwear in the kitchen.

Despite what her parents thought or didn't think of Mulder at the moment, he was her soulmate after all, not some fling. Despite the fact Scully had always been a private person, she loved Mulder in ways she had never dreamed she would love someone before meeting him and she did want her mom and dad to like him despite their...unusual introduction.

Mulder sat up in the bed, the sheets bunching around his entirely bare upper body. He glanced over at her, half apologetically and half amused. "That was not how I had imagined meeting your mom and dad."

She grabbed Mulder's shirt that she had worn earlier and pulled it over her head in frustration, wandering around the room in search of a clean pair of jeans. "How the hell did I forget that they were coming over? I never forget things like that", she cried out in embarrassment, her voice a little higher than usual as she face palmed. Finally, she found the jeans in question and pulled them up quickly.

"What if they had come in five minutes earlier, they would have caught me asking you to..", she said, her voice dropping in volume bit not in pitch as her rant continued. "Fuck me harder", she sighed loudly, half hiding her still flushed face with her hand. "They didn't need to see any of what they did."

Mulder chuckled sympathetically. He threw his legs over the edge of the mattress, coming to meet her in the middle of the floor and wrapped his arms around her small frame, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly and prying her hands from her face.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were ashamed of me", he teased softly, despite everything managing to get a small smile from her. "Scully, this was going to happen at some point anyway."

"What? My mom and dad catching us in the act", Scully whispered sarcastically, her eyebrows raised.

Mulder smirked softly, bending down to meet her. "No, at some point they were going to find out that I love you", he said, proving his point by kissing her chastely on the lips and again on the angry looking reddish mark on her forehead where they had bumped heads. "And that you love me."

Scully sighed deeply, stepping backwards and little from him and began making her way towards the door. "I guess so", she agreed, eyeing her bruise's twin on his forehead with a little amusement. They were a matching set, Mr and Mrs Spooky. "Are you okay with people knowing about us?"

Mulder shrugged nonchalantly. "They're your parents, Scully and you're close with them", he reasoned softly, tilting her chin up to look her in the eye. "You wouldn't be able to hide the fact that you have a soulmate forever."

Scully smirked, seeing the humour in the statement. She looked him up and down teasingly as though sizing up just how much larger he was than her. Five foot and two inches versus six foot and four inches. "I might have some trouble hiding you, Mulder", she said teasingly before eyeing a certain appendage of her partner's lower body.

"And ah, Mulder", she said pointing down south and dropping her voice to an even lower whisper than before.

She spoke up playfully, a devilish smirk etched on her face. "As much as I would like to help you out with that under different circumstances. You should probably take care of your little somethin' down there before you meet my dad. He was a captain in the navy and wouldn't appreciate your...appreciation"

Mulder smirked, rolling his eyes at her ribbing. "My something's definitely not little and you know it, woman."

Scully chuckled opening the door and letting herself out to face whatever questions she would or wouldn't have with her parents. She fake shrugged, throwing him another evil smirk. "Just saying, partner."

And just like that, she disappeared out through the door. Quickly so she made her shoulder length hair appear like a dark orange blur.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Just as Scully was making her way across the tiny hallway between her bedroom and kitchen/living room, she heard loud shuffling and her mother crying out desperately, her blue eyes wide and already a little bloodshot. "Dana, I need you in here right now. There's something wrong with your father."

Scully rushed into the kitchen and was faced with the terrifying sight of her mother trying to support the weight of her father who was clutching his chest in pain.


	6. Blue

I know you see in black and white

So, I'll paint you a clear blue sky

Without you I am colour-blind

It's raining, every time I open my eyes

~Troy Sievan, Blue

 **Blue**

 _The colour blue induces calm and peace within us, particularly the deeper shades. It represents serenity and finding one's place in the world._

 _Blue is the colour of devotion and religious study. It is the colour of faith and detonates heaven and the clothes of Our Lady._

 _Blue enhances the wisdom of the intellect. It represents a logical mind that seeks an orderly lifestyle and is conservative in its beliefs._

 _Blue is a colour associated with tears, loss and mourning. Also note the term; 'feeling blue' meaning to feel sad or low. Dark blue is the colour of conservatism and responsibility. Although it appears to be cool, calm and collected, it is the colour of the non-emotional worrier with repressed feelings. Dark blue can be compassionate but has trouble showing it as its emotions run deep and are often hidden._

 _..._

 _Georgetown University Hospital_

 _Georgetown_

 _Washington DC_

 _..._

The ticking of the clock seemed so much louder than usual, echoing off of the sterile blue walls of the hospital waiting room in a painstaking fashion.

The walls were blue. The tiles were blue. But, to Mulder, the azure colour of her tired eyes trumps all of them.

Scully sighed fretfully, toying nervously with the hem of her (or rather Mulder's) navy blue Oxford t-shirt that she had pulled on earlier in a hurry but still remained quiet, as though she was still trying to keep her concern under wraps for the sake of her mother. (Who had looked practically driven up the walls with worry up until nearly an hour earlier when she had been called to sit with her husband in recovery)

They hadn't heard anything since.

Scully tried to rationalise her own thoughts and calm herself down, she was a medical doctor and a federal agent after all and if she couldn't remain calm in a situation like this how on earth could she expect anyone else to do so.

But it was Ahab in there with his life on the line. It wasn't just some random person who she could detach herself from.

This was her dad.

The doctors had informed them that they would be performing a coronary artery bypass grafting surgery to improve blood flow to the heart and hopefully return Ahab to himself within a few weeks if he rested up (which neither Scully or her mother pointed out would be quite a difficult thing to do since stubbornness really did seem to run in the Scully family despite how it was one of the first things on both of their minds)

It was 'his best chance', or so they had told the two women, even though it wasn't the most commonly used procedure.

Scully had agreed with them almost instantly and had assured her mother (who, as her husband's next of kin, would be making the decision) that it was, in fact, the best available option.

The medical team had been in there in the operating theatre with him nearly three hours when Scully had begun to suspect that Ahab had been moved to recovery. At this, Maggie Scully had looked up at her daughter with a hopeful expression breaking through her look of pure fear, hands still clasped in prayer on her laps. "Well, we'll just have to have faith won't we, dear."

It was then that Mulder decided who Scully had inherited her strength from.

Scully's suspicions were confirmed when the team of doctors had come to call her mother, only allowing one visitor at first.

And she and Mulder hadn't heard a thing since...

The moments that brought them here repeatedly reeled around in Scully's mind like an old film tape; Ahab's cobalt eyes dilated in pain as he clutched at his chest, her mother's tears as she pleaded with her husband to stay with her, Mulder's panic face when he entered the kitchen only for her to yell at him to call 911 and to grab the aspirin from her night stand as she and her mother eased Ahab's bulky form to the ground. Lastly, she recalled the electric blue lights of the ambulance outside when it finally arrived.

Her arm muscles were beginning to feel a little sore and stiff from performing CPR and her throat a little raw from yelling at the emergency room doctors as they entered the hospital, but that was all the very least of Scully's concerns for now, the soreness kept her grounded.

It had was something that, as a doctor, she could heal but the dull ache brought on by her father's life being in dander couldn't be so easily fixed yet.

Not while she and Mulder remained oblivious outside the door.

Mulder reached across the slight space between them, wordlessly lacing his fingers with hers, tracing the back of her hand with his thumb.

He wasn't sure where he fitted into this whole situation. Hell, Mulder wasn't even sure how much longer hospital regulations (not that he ever cared about such things) would let him stay here with Scully. He wasn't family, not really. After all, he had only met Mr Scully for the first time a few hours ago, in the worst possible way.

But his Scully was here and one look at her told him, she was in bits worrying over her dad's welfare. He saw it in her face, her posture, her slight (and very un-Scully like) fidgeting and in the way she held on to his hand...like a lifeline.

He mightn't be family to the other Scullys but Mulder was damn well going to stay at her side for as long as she would allow it.

Dana Scully was his family.

Mulder knew that even though they were closer (in many more ways than one) than the vast majority of FBI partners, she wouldn't actively seek his comfort out of pure stubbornness. Right now however, even though she wouldn't admit to it, Scully needed a little comfort and he was damn well going to give her just that.

His partner was a kaleidoscope of colour. He has seen her fiery, red and passionate, a five foot two bottle rocket who challenged him, surprised him, aroused him and pushed him far beyond his limits. He has seen her almost retreat into the darkness of fear and uncertainty but overcome it with more bravery than he thought possible from any person. He has seen her green with envy and as joyful as the most vibrant shade of orange.

But for the majority of the time, he saw her as blue...Scully was his home and his solace in a world where he had thought such a concept was lost to him forever.

His partner was a tough woman and he knew it. To him, She was logic itself. Calm and collected with her sky coloured eyes and fierce determination. She had faith where he had nothing but questions and where she had her stubborn skeptism, he saw a chance for the truth. She was wisdom and order, the polar opposite to his crazy.

And it took quite a lot to shake her.

Now though, her eyes that usually rivalled the sea on a summer's day were misty, stormy and a little grey. She was troubled and more afraid then he had ever seen her on a case in the entirety of their time working together thus far.

She was blue in a whole new way, blue in a way he had never really seen her before.

Scully looked up as though sensing his thoughts speeding through his head, like asteroids bombing around in space. (Or perhaps it was just because she had felt the intensity of his gaze on her).

'You okay?', Mulder mouthed, as though talking aloud would somehow break an unspoken pact that had been made between the two of them since her father had been whisked away into the emergency room.

The redhead nodded numbly.

Almost nothing that had transpired since midday felt real just yet...but for now she was okay with the numbness.

"I'm fine, Mulder", she whispered firmly, almost as though she was attempting to reassure both herself and Mulder while keeping the slight tell-tale waver out of her voice.

He heard it anyway. Scully always she was fine, even when she was anything but.

Mulder released her hand, moving to wrap his arm around her. Fingers holding on to her shoulder, he felt the tension there.

He wanted to promise her that it was all going to be okay, that her father was going to be just fine and that she would see him really soon but after everything he had been through in life so far, Mulder knew better than to make such promises.

You never knew when things could change forever...that was just the nature of life.

"If he's anything like his daughter, he's a fighter", Mulder assured her gently, using his other hand to brush away her hair (which was currently kind of like a fiery birds nest on her head after the chaos of the last few hours) out of her eyes, lingering slightly on her cheekbone, in a soothing circle.

"Thanks, Mulder", Scully replied, smiling weakly and began to lean into his chest when suddenly, out of the blue, one of the doctors that had been working on Ahab (who's name neither Mulder or Scully had caught in the frantic moments upon entering the hospital) emerged from the recovery room dressed head to toe in hospital scrubs.

Scully jumped out of her chair, rushing over for any shred of information that she could get her hands on.

"We've got your father stabilised, Miss Scully. We should be moving him to the ICU within the next few minutes", the doctor informed Scully, matter-of-factly. "Things are looking pretty good for him right now, if you want to go in to see him. He's not awake yet but your mother is with him."

Scully felt herself release a breath she didn't know she was withholding as the doctor disappeared with a final smile and nod as she gave him her thanks, really truly meaning it.

After, she turned to Mulder even though he was close enough to have heard the whole thing. She just needed to say it out loud, to vocalise the relief flooding like a stream through her body.

"Mulder, My dad's going to be okay", she said, the words bubbling up and out of her.

Scully wrapped both of her arms tightly around Mulder, letting out a relieved bark of laughter as his arms immediately came around her sides, enveloping her in his warmth. She hid her grateful tears in Mulder's chest, feeling solace for the first time in hours.

Internally, she berated herself a little, knowing she had to pull herself together before going in to sit with her parents in the ICU but for now, she could just find peace in the fact her world wasn't changing. Not today anyway.

Mulder kissed the crown of her head and burying his nose in her hair he closed his eyes, sharing in the sudden calmness that radiated from his Scully.

Neither of them noticed the 'click' of a camera right behind them

XXXXXXXXXX

...

A.D Skinner's Office

Hoover Building

Washington DC

...

For the second time in one week, Mulder and Scully found themselves waiting.

Thankfully, not with the same sense of anxiety as they had in Washington General.

Kimberly, A.D Skinner's secretary, had called the basement office about an hour earlier with an order from the Assistant Director that he wanted them up in his office ASAP, supposedly about their reports on the Luther Lee Boggs case.

Scully glanced up at Mulder over her shoulder, "You didn't say anything about the things I saw in your report, right?", she asked quietly.

She had seen things while they had been investigating the visions of a crazed death row prisoner. Luther Lee Boggs had described things about the case's victims that he couldn't have known. He predicted Mulder's injury and exactly how it would happen. She couldn't explain any of it. She hadn't even begun trying to piece it together, especially since she had almost lost Mulder and her father in the last few days.

Right now she could only feel grateful that Ahab was recovering from his surgery at home and Mulder was sitting right next to her, albeit with a pair of crutches.

"Of course not, Scully", Mulder responded reassuringly, tenderly taking her hand, a stark contrast to his partnerly tone of voice that they used around other in the bureau.

She had been through a lot in the last week, he was only sorry that almost losing him too had added to that. "Even though we may not agree all the time, you respect my methods so I respect yours."

Scilly smiled quietly, squeezing his fingers in response, the only real measure of affection, safe for his hand on her lower back, that they allowed themselves once inside The Hoover Building. "Damn straight, partner."

Mulder chuckled, covertly giving her a boyish wink.

Suddenly the phone on Kimberly's desk bursts to life, breaking them out of their little intimate bubble. "He's ready for you now", the dark haired secretary said, looking up at them from the receiver.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a matter of seconds they were seated right in front of Walter Skinner.

Mulder was probably more familiar with the guy than his, FBI's most unwanted reputation would lead one to believe. He had worked under Skinner ever since his transfer from the violent crimes unit and frankly, Mulder credited himself from a sizable amount of Skinner's hair loss.

Scully, on the other hand barely knew the man at all. She was still barely a year out of the academy and had spent most of that time at Quantico. She knew of Walter Skinner of course, by reputation and she already respected him as their superior at the bureau and she knew that he was the one who read most of their field reports.

But after that she didn't know much about the Assistant Director and had only met him once very briefly since she had started on The X-Files with Mulder.

"Was everything in order with our last case report?", Scully asked.

Mulder nodded as though to second her question, and slumped slightly irreverently in the chair beside her. Scully glared at him. 'This could be serious, Mulder', she scolded him silently with her eyes.

Skinner looked up from his paperwork, regarding the two young agents in front of him, totally having missed the wordless exchange between them. "I haven't brought the two of you up here to talk about any case, Agent Scully. I want to talk about your partnership."

Mulder's sat up straight, Skinner's words immediately grabbing his attention.

He glanced over at Scully through the corner of his eye to see if she looked as uncertain about where this conversation was going as he felt. "Sir, the partnership between Agent Scully and I, is already the most successful either of us have been a part of. Her scientific and medical experience brings a while new dimension to the X-File cases that I hadn't even considered before."

Scully nodded in agreement. "Mulder and I have made amazing progress in the last few months and I've learned a lot from being on the field with him. We work well together, You need only look at our solve rates."

But Skinner knew all of this, these were the very arguments he used in favour of Mulder and Scully's partnership when it had been questioned by higher ups in the government, higher ups with packets of Morley Cigarettes and a face lined by a lifetime of smoking.

With a regretful sigh, Skinner reached into the drawer beside his desk. He pulled out a handful of photographs. Placing them in front of his two agents.

Pictures of them embracing inside Washjngton General Hospital after Scully had heard the good news about her father. Pictures of them leaving Scully's Apartment early on a Saturday morning and driving to Mulder's one night after a particularly difficult case (a case involving two identical little girls with a penchant for being evil). There was even one of the sitting in a booth at the all night diner in Arlington where Scully was lying backwards on Mulder's chest, his arms wrapped around her waist and both of them dressed in t-shirts and shorts because they had decided to stop for some food after they had finished going for a run.

Mulder and Scully sat speechless at the invasion of their lives that lay before them on the table.

Skinner spoke up again. "Now I know that the Bureau is strict in enforcing the rule about no relationships between partners, but to be honest I don't give a damn about what you two do in your own time as long as it doesn't affect your quality of work", he glanced between Mulder and Scully with a pointed look, not unlike one that a principle would gaive a pair of misbehaving students.

"But for some reason, and it beats the he'll out of my why, there is people inside the government who care enough about the two of you to give me these photis. So my advice to both of you, if you want to stay together as partners, is to keep the things you do in private private. I believe you have made yourself some extremely powerful enemies who want to see both of you off The X-Files."

 _I want you to colour me blue_

 _Anything it takes to make you stay_

 _Only seeing myself_

 _When I'm looking up at you_

 _~Troy Sievan, Blue_

* * *

 **Yes, I know I'm sorry for this very late and not so great update. I'm awful I know. I hope you got some amount of enjoyment from it though. My updates on this should be more regular from now on. Hope you have a great day if you're reading this.**

 **Pearlydewdrop xx**


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